Date of Senate hearings on new US ambassador to Russia not set yet — senator

WASHINGTON, August 4. /TASS/. The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is yet to determine the date of hearings to consider approving Jon Huntsman as Washington’s new envoy to Moscow, Committee Chairman Bob Corker told TASS on Thursday.

"As soon as his paperwork is in, we will have a hearing. He's certainly very, very qualified to assume this role and I look forward to his confirmation," Corker said. "I think he will be confirmed overwhelmingly."

When asked whether the hearings will be held after the lawmakers return from their summer recess on September 5, the senator replied "yeah, definitely."

The White House reported on July 20 that President Trump sent to the Senate a letter of nomination for "Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., of Utah, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Russian Federation."

Huntsman, 57, served as the governor of the US state of Utah between 2005 and 2009. He speaks Chinese and is a father of seven children. The politician became the youngest ambassador over a century in the country’s history, when in 1992 he was appointed the US ambassador to Singapore at the age of 32.

Former US President Barack Obama appointed him the country’s ambassador to China in 2009 and he served in that post until 2011. Financial magazine Forbes estimated his wealth in 2016 at $1 billion.

John Tefft is currently serving as the US ambassador to Russia after he was appointed to this post in July 2014.